


Under the Mistletoe

by NeuroWriter14



Series: NW14's Merry Crisis [1]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Do not repost, Doorways..., Gentle Sex, M/M, Mistletoe, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:27:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeuroWriter14/pseuds/NeuroWriter14
Summary: Will and Hannibal spend their first real holiday together.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Series: NW14's Merry Crisis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072784
Comments: 12
Kudos: 129





	Under the Mistletoe

Will stared at the massive and somehow magically decorated Christmas tree in the foyer. He couldn't quite pinpoint the emotion he felt toward the tree, but he did know he was annoyed at the person who brought it. Not because the tree was here, not because of the holiday it represented, not because it somehow arrived and was decorated without Will's knowledge. But because Hannibal had brought the tree from wherever he managed to conjure the damned thing back into the house while he was still healing. 

It had only been a few weeks since their fall off the cliff. Will had known it was almost Thanksgiving when he and Hannibal escaped to Cuba. And how Hannibal had lamented about not being able to cook a Thanksgiving dinner enough to feed an army. It wasn't that Hannibal wanted to celebrate the holiday. It was that he could, and would have, cooked the dinner just because he could. A chance to flaunt his abilities while appearing cheerful. How he would have curved his pig like a turkey and served it to guest after guest under the illusion it was something else. Hannibal loved to cook, and he loved to flaunt his abilities more just because it was fun. How terrible it had been for him to be laid up in bed while the holiday passed. Or so he told Will, anyway. 

Will, however, knew better. The reason Hannibal had lamented the holiday was because it was the first of any holiday that they had spent together. 

Previous holidays had been spent chasing killers, or chasing each other, or miles apart in confinements of their own making. 

This year, however, they had not only found their way back to each other, but they had just before the holidays began. At this point, the closest Hannibal had come to cooking a whole feast was the day he and Will paid a visit to Bedelia. She was still alive, though missing a leg. A constant reminder of the fact that Hannibal was always there and could always come back for more. Will found himself chuckling when he was reliving his last conversation with Bedelia over the dinner table when she was the main course. He reminded her of his last words to her.

_Meat's back on the menu._

She really should have listened to him. 

The two of them left for Cuba the next morning and had watched with some amusement as the FBI's manhunt for them was driven insane by a victim left alive. Bedelia had tried to take a swipe at Hannibal, the two tined fork barely missing his leg. Will admired her attempt. 

Thanksgiving had come and gone while on the boat and instead of turkey, their dinner was fish as it had been for so many years for Will. That was his form of a tradition, cooking a meal he had caught. When he was younger, it was out of necessity. His father did his best, but there wasn't much money around when Will was growing up so he and his father had to be creative with their meals. Often, that meant trying to find several ways to cook fish. And Thanksgiving had been no different. They would leave in the morning, catch whatever they could, and the biggest was their Thanksgiving dinner. As an adult, Will still went to catch a fish, keeping an unspoken tradition alive when he was the only one left to celebrate it. 

He told Hannibal about the tradition too, over their fish dinner. 

He had never told anyone, not even Molly, about that part of his childhood. With Molly and Walter, they had celebrated Thanksgiving in the normal way, with a massive dinner and turkey and some of Molly's and Walter's friends over. Will didn't have any friends to invite. His friends were either dead or imprisoned. Or Jack. 

It seemed Hannibal had wanted to spend a holiday appropriately. 

Will was fine with the idea of spending a holiday as normal people would, whatever that holiday would be. This time it was Christmas, but soon it would be New Years'. And Hannibal probably would use other holidays as an excuse to attempt to dote on Will. He expected someone would be carved in the shape of a tree for Arbor Day. 

It wasn't the holiday that bothered Will. 

It was one thing to subdue a person when they both were there to do so. It was another for Hannibal to lug a massive tree by himself. 

Will reached forward and touched the needles, wondering if the tree was even real. Where had Hannibal managed to find this tree? 

His annoyance was somewhat lessened to find the tree was not real. Hannibal had likely had it in his basement, along with the ornaments that now adorned it. When the man had ever had the time to set aside decorations in a house he never might have used was something Will pondered quietly as he looked over the various decorations. The lights weren't anything special. Several white, red, blue, and green lights were woven into the tree's branches, lighting every needle. The ornaments, at first glance, didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Will wasn't surprised to find a baby Jesus amongst the mix, given Hannibal's seemingly intimate relationship with God. But the dragon ornament was rather amusing. As Will continued looking around the tree, he noticed a bear, a wolf, several dogs, a pig on a very low branch, and directly at eye level, a lamb. 

He couldn't help his amusement, even if he was still annoyed that Hannibal had done this all by himself. 

Eventually, he pulled his hand away from the faux branches and looked over the tree once more. He stepped back, admiring it. His annoyance was slowly diminishing as he looked over the creation of Hannibal's, just as he found himself looking at all creations of Hannibal's. It was no wonder Hannibal felt a kinship with God, often the things he made could only have been carved by the hand of a god, or perhaps the exact opposite. 

He knew the exact moment Hannibal appeared at his side, two glasses of eggnog in his hands. The eggnog was probably spiked, rum if Hannibal followed the tradition he seemed determined to keep to, but Will didn't say anything as the other passed the glass into his hand silently. 

They stood there for a moment, standing shoulder to shoulder as he looked over the tree. 

"Going all out this year, Doctor?" 

"I have reason to celebrate." 

"You should have let me help you," Will muttered into his eggnog. 

"Perhaps," Hannibal answered. "But that would have ruined the surprise." 

"And you're not one for ruining surprises." Will kept his voice even. 

"I love surprises," Hannibal answered softly and Will could feel the other's eyes slide from the tree to him. "It's one of the reasons to celebrate." 

Will hummed, ignoring the buzzing in the back of his mind at the statement. 

Sometimes, in the privacy of his own mind, he would think back on a conversation with Bedelia. On conversations with Jack. On conversations with Abel Gideon of all people. He thought about Bedelia's confirmation that Hannibal loved him. The fact that he was all too in love with Hannibal too, and had admitted it to nearly everyone but Hannibal and himself. The fact that so many people around them knew how closely they were entwined, but neither had admitted the depths of it to each other. 

Hannibal seemed content to have Will at his side and had never pushed for anything more. Anything in their relationship was Will's to give. He expected that Hannibal was surprised that Will had stayed this long, but never once had he asked him to stay. It wasn't that he didn't want to, and Will knew he did want him to stay. He had asked him to stay with him before. It was shyness or fear that made Hannibal withhold his want for Will's company. It was simply that he hadn't had it for three years, and part of him wondered if Will would withhold it again. 

But Will had no intentions of going anywhere. 

He had plenty of time to think over the three years they were apart. And mostly, he found that he thought about how much he missed Hannibal. 

They weren't the same without each other. Will had accused him once of fostering co-dependency, and he had. They were so wrapped in each other, that they were almost sleepwalking without one another. Will had tried to force himself into a mask, into normalcy. But it didn't work. And it didn't quite work for Molly either. In truth, they had used each other, which was why as their relationship waned after Will's return to Hannibal, neither was all that upset about it. Molly had used to Will to try to move past her ex, and in a way, Will had done the same thing. Molly wanted to move beyond Walter's father. And Will wanted to move beyond Hannibal. 

It had failed spectacularly. 

Seeing Hannibal again had ignited that dimmed spark within him. It had never gone out, not really, no matter how Will tried to smother it by punishing them both. Hannibal was locked away, where he would stay until Will needed him. And Will had locked himself away. He attempted to cage the monster within him, the monster that sung to the one inside Hannibal, begging for company, begging to be seen and known and ultimately, loved. 

In the few weeks since they had arrived in Cuba, Will thought over everything he knew. He knew Hannibal loved him, he knew they weren't the same without each other, and he knew he was all too certain that he loved Hannibal too. 

They were both stuck in the same place, wanting desperately to reach for each other but knowing at any moment they could be lost to one another again. 

It was maddening. 

He wanted. He needed. 

He ached. 

As Bedelia had put it. 

Will sipped his eggnog, the thoughts running circles in his frantic mind while his body was perfectly still. 

"Your cogs are turning," Hannibal probed next to him, his voice low. 

"You don't like holidays," Will answered instead. 

"I like some," Hannibal said, letting Will change the conversation. "Halloween is a particular favorite of mine. I am also fond of tradition, even if I don't always abide by it." 

"And yet you set up a tree in the middle of our house." 

Hannibal twitched, just barely, next to him. If he didn't know Hannibal as well as he did, he never would have seen it. But he knew Hannibal better than he knew himself. He knew Hannibal twitched, and why. 

_Our._

Will didn't want to leave. Especially not Hannibal. 

"Yes," Hannibal answered. "As I said, I have reason to celebrate." 

Will hummed, taking another sip. After a moment, and his mind had settled, he turned toward the other, looking him over. 

Hannibal didn't show signs of injury, he wasn't actively bleeding through his shirt, his skin had color once more, and his hair had grown slightly. In all, he seemed to still be healing and the tree didn't set him back. Not that Hannibal would have cared if setting up the tree injured him. He had done it for Will, not for himself or for appearances. 

The other watched him, looking for signs of disapproval. 

Instead, Will raised his glass slightly, before taking another drink and moving around him, leaving Hannibal in the foyer with the tree. 

He wondered if Hannibal would see the invitation if he would act on it. Will had offered an invitation to him before, he invited him to hunt. This was still a hunt, though albeit one that should end with less blood spilled. Though perhaps there would still be some. 

He discarded his glass on the counter as he moved through the kitchen, feeling the other stalking him. Hannibal was moving slowly as he followed Will, as though he were making certain of Will's intentions. But Will knew exactly what he was doing. And he knew Hannibal. 

Which was why he had baited Hannibal to follow him to this exact room, the study. 

There weren't many holiday decorations around the house. There was a dragon with a Santa hat on the mantle, the tree in the foyer, and a poinsettia in the kitchen. And outwardly, that appeared to be the extent of it. But Will knew better. He knew that, as he stood in the doorway to the study, a hidden decoration hung above his head. He knew that as he turned and waited, leaning against the doorway, the implications of his actions would be known, just as he knew Hannibal's. 

No one else had seen the same Hannibal that Will had. Bedelia thought she saw every aspect of him, but even she likely hadn't been privy to this aspect. 

Hope.

It was hope that had forced Hannibal's hand to place the only other decoration above the door to a room that they only ever entered one at a time. He wouldn't have placed it above the door to either of their bedrooms, wouldn't have placed it in the kitchen. Not a place where one or both of them went out of necessity. He wouldn't have placed it at the front door. Instead, he placed it in the one spot in the house which both could potentially come across. The one place where if they entered, it was of their own volition. 

They had resumed their evening talks, knowing that it was the one thing that benefited them both while their bodies were still on the mend. 

If their bodies couldn't be flexed, their minds could. 

And he knew Hannibal's mind was running a marathon.

The other was a few steps behind him still, his glass abandoned alongside Will's in the kitchen, as he hunted Will through the house. 

But this wasn't a hunt of predator and prey. Will had used himself to lure Hannibal before for one simple reason, even if it hadn't been fully conscious at the time. Hannibal didn't see him as prey, as the pigs he hunted and slaughtered. He wasn't even the rivals or perhaps respected others like some other killers or Jack. For Hannibal, Will was his equal. And the one person he wanted at his side. 

He was, to put it in terms of the monsters that were constantly beckoning each other from their chests, his mate. 

He had thought about it over and over, thought about what it could mean for them to join in this final way.

And he wanted it. 

His eyes glanced upward finding, as he knew he would, the mistletoe above him. 

Hannibal had stopped just at the edge of the hall, watching Will closely, making certain that he knew what he was offering as he leaned in the doorway. 

He took a step closer, then paused. He was giving Will an out. 

But Will stayed still, waiting patiently. 

Hannibal stepped closer and then again. 

Will wondered what it would be like to be one of Hannibal's prey. Did he move quickly? Or did he move like he was now, the panther slowly stalking its hunt?

When Hannibal was within arm's reach, Will's patience wore thin. He wasn't surprised though, and neither would Hannibal be. Hannibal was the epitome of patience, but Will was not a patient man. 

He reached forward, grasping Hannibal by the wrist, and dragged him into the doorway with him. 

Hannibal watched him for a second longer before they were both leaning inward. 

Their lips met, softly at first, but that didn't last. 

Their kisses immediately became harsher, hungrier. Bloodier. 

Will could taste his own blood on Hannibal's tongue after the other's teeth sunk into his bottom lip, and Hannibal's blood soon joined it from Will's reciprocated action. They had gone from perfectly calm to aroused and desperate in a matter of seconds as their arms crushed them together. Will leaned his weight against the doorframe, dragging Hannibal's weight against him. Their bodies folded together perfectly and, while Will was wary of the healing wound in Hannibal's torso, he was all too willing to continue pressing them together. 

He pressed his hips forward, forcing their increasingly hardening erections to brush. 

"Will," Hannibal began. 

"Here," He insisted instead. 

"Will," Hannibal tried again. He knew the other wanted to drag them to one of their bedrooms, or even to wait until later, but Will didn't want that. They had waited long enough. 

He wrestled them to the ground, pinning the other under him, still wary of his abdomen. 

"I have my present," Will said quietly against the other's jaw. "I'd like to unwrap it." 

"Do I get to unwrap mine?" Hannibal asked, his fingers gently stroking over Will's scalp. 

Will mused at the fun he could have in denying Hannibal that. Of having Hannibal naked under him while he was still mostly clothed. But he set it aside for another time, another way to up the game between them. For now, though, he didn't want to deny them anymore. Not after all this time. Not every they had reemerged from the ocean, reborn and together. Finally. 

"Forgive my lack of a bow." He answered finally before sinking his teeth into Hannibal's neck. 

"The wrapping never survives anyway," Hannibal whispered back before Will felt his shirt began to tear, exposing his back to the air. 

Will groaned as he first lifted himself to discard his ruined shirt and then tore at Hannibal's. The two of them ground together, bodies finding their way around each other. Will tore at Hannibal's pants next, the two of them altering between snarling at restraining clothes and hungry lips finding some spot on the other to claim. 

When their shredded clothes were eventually discarded, Will pressed himself against Hannibal. A few years ago, he might have been shier about this particular action. But at this point, there was very little of the other that wasn't known. He ground down against the other man, their cocks brushing. He groaned aloud, grasping Hannibal's hands which were running all over his body, and used them to pull the two of them together. Hannibal willingly tightened his grip as they ground together. 

Will turned his attention away from Hannibal's neck to wet his hand then reached down to wrap around Hannibal's cock. The other groaned, pressing closer and mouthing at his shoulder. 

After a moment, one of Hannibal's hands moved upward, and Will caught his fingers easily, pulling them between his teeth. They didn't need to talk to be on the same wavelength, their thoughts already heading down the same path. Will swirled his tongue over Hannibal's fingers, taking special care to wet them enough. The only downside of saying under the mistletoe was that lube was not readily available. 

Hannibal's hand moved lower after a moment to ready him while Will focused on his cock. Hannibal's other hand joined him after a moment, wetted with his own saliva this time. 

Eventually, Will couldn't wait much longer, shaking as he pulled his hand off Hannibal's cock and Hannibal's hand from him. It would burn, he might bleed. And he didn't care. 

Hannibal seemed to care more than he did, his mouth open to protest and fret when Will began to sink down on him, shutting him up entirely. The other groaned, his hands resting on Will's hips as he lowered his body until they were flush against each other. 

"If I'd've known this was all it took to shut you up," Will began, his accent coming through as he lost his composure, his body shaking already. "I would've done it sooner." 

"Wicked boy," Hannibal answered, but his voice was filled with pleasure. 

"How's your wound," Will asked, lifting himself up slightly only to sink again. 

"It hurts a little," Hannibal answered. "But nothing compared to the pain of being denied this if you stopped." 

Will set his hands on either side of Hannibal's head, anchoring himself as he began to shift his hips more, careful to try not to hurt Hannibal too much. No doubt they would hurt each other later, but that was different. 

"Come here," Hannibal coaxed, trying to bring Will's body down further. 

"Hannibal," Will began, knowing if he moved, he would be putting more weight on the other's injury. 

"Here," Hannibal repeated, and Will relented.

He lowered himself carefully, their lower bodies still moving together slowly, and pressed himself against Hannibal. The other nuzzled into his neck, his arms trapping Will in place on top of him. 

Their movements began to speed, Hannibal slowly rocking up into him, as they lied there, pressed together under the mistletoe. 

"You're beautiful," Hannibal whispered, pressing a kiss against his cheek. 

"You're-" Will paused momentarily as Hannibal's cock grazed his prostate. "Not gonna let up on the comments now, huh?" 

"And miss a single day more telling you? No." 

They were moving upward then, Will settling on Hannibal's lap while their arms pressed them closer again. Hannibal was so deep in him, and he was so trapped, that he couldn't continue his previous motions. Instead, he ground against the other, rolling his hips. Hannibal groaned. 

He was surprised at how slow and gentle the experience was, not that he wasn't enjoying it. But it was different than what he thought would come between them. He expected fast and rough and more animalistic. He wasn't expecting slow and soft and pleasurable in a way that set his gut on fire. He didn't know how long they were there, only that the angle of the sun, which had already dipped low in the sky, was further now. 

He and Hannibal explored each other, hands and lips gently pressing against wherever they could reach. More than once, Hannibal's soft hair brushed over his cheek and more than once, Will was glad it had grown out. 

Will hummed at the slow movements, glad when his hum was echoed and later swallowed by Hannibal. Their lips met again and again, arms locking in place. 

He didn't even know he was at the precipice of his orgasm until he fell over it. 

He didn't know Hannibal was there as well until Hannibal's body seized with his. 

They were silent for a moment, both breathing heavily and grasping each other. Eventually, Will looked upward once again, seeing the mistletoe still above them in the doorway. 

Hannibal, though, was watching him and he knew if he looked, the other's gaze would be adoring. 

"It's a Christmas miracle," Hannibal said quietly, pressing a kiss to Will's chin. 

Will's lips twitched before he answered. "Hallelujah." 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come yell at me on [Tumblr](https://neurowriter14.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/NWriter14)


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